Conquest of Ireland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Conquest of Ireland - Essay Example The course of history took a deep change when in 1155 Pope Adrian IV issued a bill to the counselor of Henry IV. This bill issued by Pope Adrian gave the current powers of loyalty to Henry II who was the King of England. It also gave him the power to enter the territory of Ireland and conquer it. However while Pope Adrian gave Henry IV all the powers he made sure that Henry IV abided by the bill he passed. The church was given the supreme power and the government there took a change in its policies. Centralized government was promoted in the lands of Ireland after Henry IV took over. But the task of conquest was not easy for Henry IV as he had to take help from different nobles belonging to Ireland. Dermot MacMurrough had an important role to play in the conquest of Henry II.2 He was known to be the king of an Irish state named Linster. As MacMurrough was the king of the Irish state he had total power over the trade activities happening in Linster. And these trade activities helped h im to develop a good relationship with Henry II. However after a passage of time MacMurrough was forced to go in exile by the other nobles living in the Irish state. This made MacMurrough seek the help of Henry II to enter his territory of Linster again. And as the internal structure of the Irish state was in a jeopardy Henry II took the benefit of the situation. MacMurrough was granted troops by Henry II to conquer his state Linster but in the form of a recommendation. This recommendation given by Henry II urged a person known as Strongbow to provide MacMurrough with his army. But when MacMurrough asked for support from Strongbow he gave such conditions to MacMurrough which were not acceptable to him. And thus he moved ahead without the support of Strongbow. However he gained the support of different nobles and moved into the land of Ireland with a very small army in 1167. In the beginning the conquest was proved to be quite successful but as he moved ahead the enemies brought in f orces which could not be stopped. At this moment MacMurrough was aided by other allies to be victorious again in the campaign. MacMurrough's army consisted of a very small amount of people, but these people were known to be well equipped and brave. This army helped MacMurrough gain access to the old state of Linster and he was once again pronounced the King of Linster. Soon after he broke a deal which he had previously made with his enemies and this proved to be costly for him as the enemies were charging on him with a great force. Seeing the situation MacMurrough realized that he did not have adequate equipment and soldiers to fight a large army and requested Strongbow again to conquer Ireland. Strongbow with a large army marched towards the state of Ireland and emerged victorious in conquering Dublin. Soon after the conquest he established the rules and ethics of an Anglo Norman colony in the states of Ireland. After the death of MacMurrough, Strongbow was also named as the King o f Linster.3 On the other hand all these invasions were being closely monitored by King Henry II. He realized that England was surrounded by a number of enemy countries which were France and Spain. And now as Ireland was going under the control of Anglo-Normans Henry II realized the danger. The thought of being surrounded by a number of enemies through out the territory of England made King Henry II conquer Ireland. As King Henry II